“Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. “Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11, 12, NKJV).
This Time It's Personal
The last Beatitude, moves from corporate persecution in verse 10 to personal persecution in verses 11 and 12. Jesus goes from "Blessed are those…" to "Blessed are YOU…", and again hits the theme of harassment for Christ's sake.
When the Lord emphasizes a particular teaching by repetition it makes sense for us, His students, to pay attention. And notice he says "when" not "if" "they revile and persecute".
Christianity has costs. If anyone says to you "Come to Jesus and life will be just swell!" they are not giving you the whole story. In one sense of course, your life will be just swell. Your sin debt is paid, your eternal destiny assured, your inheritance laid up for you in Heaven, but temporally here and now? Not so much. Jesus makes no attempt to conceal the truth about following Him.
“For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it-- “lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, “saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ (Luke 14:28-30, NKJV).
“Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also. (John 15:20, NKJV).
“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33, NKJV).
I like that about my Lord. He's not interested in making the sale at any price. He ensures that you read the fine print at the bottom of the contract. He repeatedly says, in effect, "Here's the deal, the whole deal. Take it or not."
I know people who have signed on the dotted line in pencil, so to speak. It has not gone well for them. Straddling the fence between this world and the Kingdom of Heaven is necessarily painful. Forsaken in that lack of commitment are both the temporal benefits of Christianity and the temporary pleasures of fleshly sin. Eventually, the straddler WILL come down on one side or the other, either relieved and at peace, or bitter and resentful.
I find a big difference between being unpopular in a group context, and being harassed personally. I hate both, but the personal one is the more unpleasant. All kinds of emotions ensue, and because the laser gun sight is painting my own personal forehead, the impulses to either duck and cover or do some drastic self-defense moves are compelling. Plus, the comforting (and illusional) "safety in numbers" aspect is missing. I also find it singularly distasteful to be "lumped into some group" or to be labelled, or categorized and then singled out because of it. That has never worked out well for me. The "Oh, you're one of those people!" attacks have caused much pain to me one-on-one.
But Jesus promises that is EXACTLY what we should expect from the world. And to personal harassment add reviling (literally to be sucker punched in the teeth), and to reviling add falsely accused, because when you live this life for Christ, you are a natural target. Oh joy!
Actually though, joy is what He mentions next. In response to being mistreated for His sake (His sake mind you, and not because of your own unpleasantness), we are to rejoice!. And not just rejoice, but be "exceedingly glad", not because we are a bunch of metaphysical masochists, but because the world singling us out for Christ's sake is proof that we are truly His and therefore "great is your reward in heaven". This is all part of the contract, as well. If you believe and pay attention to what Jesus says (and that's the whole point, really), then you MUST come to the same conclusion that the Apostle Paul does here:
For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. (Romans 8:18, NKJV).
And here:
But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9, NKJV).
And our examples are "the prophets who were before you."
They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented-- (Hebrews 11:37, NKJV).
Look, life is hard, and sometimes it is very hard. And often times other people, even people in you own household, make it even harder, still.
Jesus wants you to know that, but not stop there. As His disciple, this life is not all there is, actually whether His disciple or not, this life is not all there is (say this quietly though, because immortality upsets a lot of modern people), and what you experience during your time here on earth is only a very small part of the story. Jesus offers an iron clad contract and spells out in graphic detail all the provisions and fine print. When viewed rationally, comprehensibly and in good faith, it really is the only sensible deal in town.
